


12 - I Think I've Broken Something

by VickeyStar



Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Category: Magnum P.I. (TV 2018)
Genre: Juliet Higgins Angst, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-12
Updated: 2020-10-12
Packaged: 2021-03-07 16:34:41
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 965
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26970727
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/VickeyStar/pseuds/VickeyStar
Summary: Her eyes slam closed, loose tears falling as she processes the pain and betrayal she feels, letting anger straighten her spine.Juliet, I’m so—”She hangs up.Broken Down | Broken Bones | Broken Trust
Relationships: Juliet Higgins & OMC, Juliet Higgins & Thomas Sullivan Magnum IV
Series: Whumptober 2020 [12]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1946791
Comments: 5
Kudos: 29





	12 - I Think I've Broken Something

**Author's Note:**

> This fic is kind of a mirror image of how we felt, these past few days, since we learned the news about that one person we mentioned earlier. It's watered down and vague, because we don't want to get into specifics about what happened irl. If you know, you know. If you don't, you don't. And you probably don't want to.  
> ~ Sleef/Vic

She doesn’t believe it, when she sees the news.

Her mind immediately reaches back to every interaction between the two of them, wondering if there were any signs, any moments, where he’d shown that this was who he was.

Juliet sits back in her desk chair, staring sightlessly at the screen of her laptop as she realizes.

All of those strange phone calls, all of the nights they’d talked, both awake at odd hours, him casually spending money he didn’t have on hotel rooms and plane tickets for people he never mentioned.

She doesn’t want to believe it.

Juliet takes a deep breath, pointedly shuts her laptop lid, and goes to bed early for the first time in a while.

~*~

She wakes up, and it’s the first thing on her mind.

There’s a flash of rage in her chest, as she thinks about the situation, and the only thing that cools it is that she doesn’t know the definitive truth.

But sometimes even that isn’t enough, her fist slamming into the wall of her room with a _crack_ as her hand blossoms with pain.

Cursing, Juliet examines her finger, feeling the quickly swelling break.

It’s a quick fix, getting the on-site medic who usually sticks around during tours to take a look at it, putting a splint on it and telling her to learn how to type one-handed.

~*~

The next day, she gets up, prepares for the day, does her work, but she can’t stop her mind from drifting.

During her break, Juliet does a quick google search, and _holy hell._

It’s gotten much worse.

More people have come forward about what he’d done to them, how he’d violated their trust and privacy. She spares a thought to his family, anger flooding her as she realizes how they must be feeling, discovering this about this man.

This _monster_.

Hell, she hadn’t even known him that well, with limited interactions with the man, just enough to leave an impression, if she’s being honest, and she still feels this incredible amount of pain.

She spends her free time torturing herself, discovering more and more information and seeing how his actions have harmed his close friends and family, just feeling broken inside as she looks at the realities in front of her.

Juliet is so distracted by her emotions she doesn’t notice Thomas’s presence until he puts a cup of coffee and a sandwich on the table, snapping her out of her daze.

“You didn’t come out for lunch, the boys stopped by. Rick made the sandwich. You okay?”

When she looks at him, his playful expression quickly drops into one of concern.

“What’s wrong?”

She doesn’t bother trying to hide her emotions, simply too drained to try as she takes a sip, ignoring the burn immediately forming on her tongue.

He waits, letting her take her time to figure out what she’s going to say.

“Someone I thought was trustworthy turned out to be a terrible person.”

His eyebrows furrow in sympathy, lips pursing as he puts a comforting hand on her shoulder.

“What do you need?”

She considers.

Juliet glances at the laptop screen, thinks about all of the information that’s been exposed, stands up, and hugs him.

She feels his body tense up for a moment, before his arms wrap around her and just… hold her.

Her arms tighten around his neck, face pressed into his chest as she takes the moment.

She lets herself think about everything that man had done, everyone he had hurt by his actions, and she can’t stop her face from scrunching up as her eyes water.

She takes a sharp breath, something Thomas picks up on, and he’s quick to start rubbing her back as she tries to hold her tears in.

“It’s okay to cry,” Thomas speaks suddenly, voice a murmur in her ear.

She realizes now, in this position, he’d be able to see her laptop’s screen.

He knows how she’d held the man in a high regard, considering him a friendly acquaintance, if not friend.

“You looked up to him. You thought he was a good person. It isn’t your fault that he tricked you, Jules. From what it looks like, he tricked everyone.”

She sighs.

“I’m a spy. I’m _supposed_ to be better than everyone at noticing things like that.”

He pulls her back, a bit, so he can look her in the eye.

“You haven’t been in the field in almost a decade. There’s no reason for you to have noticed anything amiss, Jules. The only reason he got away with what he’s been doing for so long is because he surrounded himself with good people, who believed that people aren’t inherently evil. He didn’t give you a reason to suspect him, so you didn’t.”

She holds his gaze, seeing the truth in his eyes.

Nodding, she finally lets the tears fall as she accepts the truth.

Someone she was close to is a terrible person.

Thomas pulls her back in, holding her impossibly closer, and she feels safe as she sobs, letting herself _feel_ as the fingers of her good hand scrunch up the back of his shirt.

While they’re hugging, her phone rings.

Juliet pulls back, after three rings, looking at the phone to see who it is, only to be immediately filled with dread.

Thomas waits, letting her choose what to do.

She bites her lip, sniffs, and hits the accept call button.

There’s silence over the phone.

“Is it true?”

She ignores the way her voice cracks, Thomas immediately getting tissues and passing them toward her.

A pause, over the phone.

_“Yeah.”_

Her eyes slam closed, loose tears falling as she processes the pain and betrayal she feels, letting anger straighten her spine.

_Juliet, I’m so—”_

She hangs up.

edn


End file.
